One of the biggest glutes-toning mistakes people make is relying on weight machines to tone their butts, says Metzl. Instead, try functional bodyweight training exercises like those squats and bridges we mentioned before. These moves are more effective at strengthening the layers of muscle in your glutes, he says—weight machines, on the other hand, isolate a single layer.

A: First, you have to realize that when one is gaining weight it’s nearly impossible (steroid discussion aside) to gain solely muscle without the acquisition of some body fat as well. That being said though, you can improve thedistribution of lean body mass to fat mass by ensuring that your calorie consumption isn’t too aggressive (i.e. 1000+ over your BMR). Also, it should go without saying, but you need to be training hard while focusing on progressive overload to ensure that the calories you’re ingesting are actually going towards muscle growth. You shouldn’t be neglecting cardiovascular work either; both HIIT and LISS each play a role in enhancing mitochondrial density, balancing neurotransmitters, improving oxidative capacity, and influencing brain plasticity.

We can all pile on the pounds, just stay in the fast food lane, but it’s a nutrient-dense healthy diet, that will promote lean muscle development and size. In truth, muscular growth and building that brick house frame, can be harder to achieve than losing weight, and very frustrating. But we are here to help - follow our top 8 tips and you'll pack on lean muscle and size far more easily and be well on your way to achieving that physique you want.

Your glutes serve as the main mover and power output to most of your major and accessory lifts—squat, deadlift, kettbell swings, box jumps—so the more you develop and stimulate your gluteal muscles, the more you’re able to maximize control, strength, and stability. (It doesn’t hurt that women love watching you do leg and glute work in the gym, either.)
Another muscle, the rectus femoris, can also limit hip flexion and cause problems in yoga poses. Part of the quadriceps muscle on the front of the thigh, it originates near the ASIS, runs down the center of the thigh, and inserts on the shinbone (tibia) just below the knee. When the rectus femoris contracts and shortens, it not only extends or straightens the knee, it also flexes the hip.
If you're serious about putting on some muscle, then the most efficient way to do it is with three intense resistance training sessions and two lighter intensity workouts per week. “You need to have consistency in a workout program, hitting at least each muscle group two times a week to build muscle,” explains Lovitt. If you’re looking to switch up exercises, Olson suggests swaps such as sumo squats instead of traditional squats; step-ups on a bench instead of lunges; and then rotating back to the former. “These types of variation can be very effective in developing muscles, but the weights must still be fairly heavy that you’re using,” she says.
This is a great, functional exercise, and one I have written about in the past. The basic glute bridge is simple, just lay on your back with your knees bent, lifting your hips in the air. This is an excellent starting point, but most of you will quickly need to move on to more challenging variations to really get your glutes fired up. Check out my two favorites:
(5) Glycogen levels. Ever heard of Keto Diet? This diet focuses on little to no carbs. Why? Glycogen levels. Most people eat too much food and most of these foods are carb based. Which means most people have filled glycogen levels. Which means most people are having glucose spill over into being stored as fat. By dropping carbs, we stop carbs from being stored as fat. By dropping carbs, we allow glycogen to become depleted which allows another opportunity to treat carbs better. By dropping carbs, we drop our calories, which should help one enter into a calorie deficit and it’s this deficit that helps more than anything. Make sense? Grade III (severe): A complete tear in your muscle that causes severe pain and swelling and you can't bear weight on that leg, making it difficult to walk. You've also lost more than 50 percent of your muscle function. These injuries are less common and may need surgery to repair the torn muscle. They can take several months or more to completely heal. Actual bar speed has to do with tempo. If we rep a light away until it feels heavy, then we have altered the tempo. The muscle switches from short twitch to fast twitch. This takes time for the muscle to switch, so people lift heavy usually to expedite the fast twitch being used. BUT, going slow on PURPOSE, is not the same as actual bar speed. If you can deliberately slow down a weight, then it’s too light. SIMPLE AS THAT. Going slow is for heavy weights, because heavy weights don’t take long to lift. So one must be going slow because of the weight and not because they think time under tension is key. This means, lift more. How much more? I don’t know, but try a little more. If you can do a little more, then you have progressed.

2. What's your training like? Are you crushing 25 sets for chest like the average juiced out bodybuilder? If so, there's a pretty good chance you might be working above your MRV (maximal recoverable volume) and as such any physiological adaptation which could have taken place is going to be minimal given the cellular environment which occurs in a state of functional overreaching.

It’s based on the principles of high intensity interval training — known as H.I.I.T. — which uses short bursts of strenuous exercise to make a big impact on the body. If moderate exercise — like a 20-minute jog — is good for your heart, lungs and metabolism, H.I.I.T. packs the benefits of that workout and more into a few minutes. It may sound too good to be true, but learning this exercise technique and adapting it to your life can mean saving hours at the gym.

I learned from this to focus on the body weight exercises. I never understood why I could lift a lot of weight, but felt weak when it came to dips, pull ups, push ups etc. Normally I spend 2 hours in a gym: 20 min jogging, 80 min lifting, 20 min jogging, 5 days a week. After reading this I’m excited to incorporate HIIT training in addition to mobility training on my off days, because I think I was wasting a lot of time and effort. I can push way harder on lifting days without the jog beforehand, so I’ll also be able to make the most of 60 minutes…

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